— Kienan O'Doherty (@kodoherty22) November 7, 2024 The Crushers kept up the momentum as they burst out to a 9-0 lead in the second game, forcing Sonoma Academy to call a timeout. Again, it was the service — this time from captain Liv Weis — who had three aces in the opening run. The Coyotes (22-8) played better as the game went on and even cut the lead to four at one point, but the early deficit was too much to overcome, and Vintage took a comfortable 2-0 match lead. It was much of the same in the third game, with the Crushers jumping out to an early lead that had the Coyotes playing from behind. An 8-2 run saw Vintage lead 20-12 at one point, and the Crushers won five out of the next nine points to take the game and the match. “It just wasn’t our night,” Sonoma Academy head coach Kaitlyn Dycus said. “We had some things go against us, and we needed everyone to be 100% and on, and that just didn’t happen for us. But overall, I’m still really proud of the girls and how far they’ve come. This is the furthest any volleyball team in Sonoma Academy history has gone, not to mention in a higher division than we normally play.” The Crushers were led by Gonzalez, who finished with 13 kills and eight digs. Weis added 17 assists and five digs, while Melanie McPhee earned three assists and 11 digs. Ariel Winkler had five aces from the service line to go along with four digs. For the Coyotes, Sydney Shayewitz led the way with eight kills and 12 digs. Bailey Anderson added six kills, while Caitlin Koida and Celeste Frick each had six assists. Maja Mieritz earned three blocks. Both Vintage and Sonoma Academy will be playing Saturday. The Coyotes will host No. 7 Encinal (17-16) in the third-place game to determine the final NorCal spot (the top three teams from each division advance), while Vintage will host No. 6 Rancho Cotate (19-13) for the Division 4 title. You can reach Staff Writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or kienan.odoherty@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @kodoherty22.